For Release: December 28, 1998

Contact: Richard Sisson 222-3075

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management's Division of Fish and Wildlife has announced that effective on January 1, commercial fishermen holding Rhode Island summer flounder exemption certificates may possess 1,000 pounds of summer flounder. All other licensed commercial fishermen may possess 200 pounds of these fish, also known as fluke.

The increase in the possession limit comes with the New Year, the start date of the annual apportionment of fluke allocated by the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Rhode Island's annual quota of 1.7 million pounds is divided into three seasons, each having a percentage of the annual quota. The largest percentage is assigned to the period from January 1 through April 30, and is based upon the poundage of fluke historically landed during that time period.

Rhode Island has operated under a quota management system since 1993 to help rebuild the summer flounder population along the Atlantic coast. DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for adjusting possession limits to assure that the period quotas and the annual allocation are not exceeded. Because of the legal mandate to remain within quota, the Division has traditionally adjusted the possession limit from 100 to 1,000 pounds based upon data from a tracking system that allows projections of harvest. Based on the history of fluke landings since implementation of the quota system, DEM expects that the possession limit will have to be adjusted prior to April 30.

Interested persons can call DEM 's Marine Fisheries Hotline at 1-800-385-8061 for current fluke possession limits and other general fisheries information.